BBC World Affairs editor-in-chief John Simpson was ridiculed on Sunday when he described fugitive Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad as “less than evil”.
The 80-year-old taxpayer-funded journalist, who has spent his entire working life at the state broadcaster since joining it in 1970, personally describes President Assad as “soft” and ” He said that when he met him in person, he felt that he was the opposite of a traditional dictator. face to face.
Writing in Iran and especially Russia I told him what to do and he weakly did it. In reality, he was a meek and eager-to-please man, the complete opposite of a traditional dictator. ”
As soon as the post was posted on X, readers responded and went after the reporter, questioning his judgment of both the murderous regime led by al-Assad and the man himself.
A community note was quickly added to the publicly funded reporter's original post.
Some simply called Simpson a disgrace.
As reported by Breitbart News, the Assad family's brutal 50-year rule over Syria came to an end over the weekend, with Bashar al-Assad fleeing and seeking asylum in Russia.
Assad is one of the world's most notorious tyrants, a man who not only used chemical weapons against his own people, but also oversaw the mass murder of tens of thousands of his opponents, real and imagined.
His autocratic government nearly collapsed in a civil war that broke out during the Arab Spring in 2011, but was supported by Russian and Iranian forces.
The Kremlin announced on Monday that Russia had granted political asylum to Assad following a decision by President Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Assad's specific whereabouts.
